Torch with hanging or standing base

ABSTRACT

A torch assembly means by which a torch can be alternatively and conveniently rested upon a surface or hanged from a suspension means. In the preferred embodiments, the torch assembly comprises a torch body capable of retaining a quantity of oil, having a top portion and a bottom portion. The top portion can threadingly engage a removable wick holder; and the bottom portion has a tapped aperture capable of threadingly engage a ground securement means, and it further has one or more grooves or protrusions. The bottom portion of the torch body is received by an invertible base with one or more grooves or protrusions wherein at least two legs ending in hook like structures may be readily passed there through for suspension or support. The wick holder further may be fitted with a gasket, seal, cap or plug for easy storage. The torch body is preferably made from one or more of the following corrosion resistant materials, including: copper, stainless steel, a coated or anodized steel, aluminum, or any other durable, strong corrosion resistant material to withstand the weather, since this device is intended for use outdoors as well as indoors.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to the field of torches. More specificallyit relates to torch assemblies having bases which can convert the torchfrom one that stands on a surface, to one that can hang from a bracketor hook or other suspension means.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Currently, in the marketplace, there are available a wide variety oftorches which either are constructed to hang from a bracket or hook, orthose which are set atop a post. There are none, however, with aspecialized base member which allows a torch to be utilized in either ahanging position or standing atop a surface wherein the base serves adual purpose. Although there are several related patent disclosures seenin the prior art, they generally relate to matter suspended in the airby a suspension means. The present invention is unique in that itrelated to a torch assembly means that includes a base which is capableof converting the torch body from being suspended in the air, to restingon a surface, to resting in the air atop a pole slidingly receptive of asecond shorter pole or piece of conduit.

For example, one such patent is U.S. Pat. No. 288,853, issued to Pooge,which discloses a ring suspended by chains from a swivel having severalhorn shaped prongs suitable for hanging bags and a central twine holder.

Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 532,400, issued to Seys, only discloses alantern with a disk like base, a central opening for the torch means,and upwardly disposed clips adapted to embrace both the base and glasscover. This particular disclosure shows a lamp-chimney or a cover forthe torch means with complicated projecting flanges.

Another suspended assembly device shown in the prior art is disclosed inU.S. Pat. No. 1,077,423, issued to Myers, which illustrates a plantholder comprising a soil receptacle with perforations to permit wateroverflow; a removable false bottom provided with holes to permit waterpassage; and a suspension means including wires, chains, and othersuitable supporting means. While the device does include a suspensionmeans, it does not include a supporting base that is invertible whichcould have allowed the plant to either seated atop feet on a surface orsuspended in the air, nor does it disclose a torch body.

Another related utility patent, U.S. Pat. No. 1,419,307, issued toRichardson, only discloses a unique suspension configuration; it doesnot disclose a plurality of legs having hook means for removablesecurement to a suspension means, nor does it disclose a torch body thatsits upon the base.

Yet another patent, U.S. Pat. No. 3,228,577, issued to Croft, disclosesa liquid carrier receptacle with means for mounting the receptacle froma vehicle. The means for mounting includes a triangular troy withsuspension means chains attached at the corners. The tray's rim ispreferably bent slightly upward.

Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 6,230,440, issued to Deutsch which discloses arotating display device that is suspended from the ceiling. The Deutschinvention is different from the present in that the present inventiondoes not claim a rotating display means or utilize only the suspensionmeans.

Several design patents were found to be related to the present inventionbut only claimed suspension devices. None of the designs claimed havebases capable of being converted from suspension to two other supportarrangements. Neither do the designs claim an affiliated torch body. Forexample, U.S. Pat. No. D77,225, issued to Danz, discloses a design for aflower pot including a suspension means attached to a lower base withseveral upwardly protruding spear means adapted to attach the suspensionmeans.

U.S. Pat. No. D222,949, issued to Souder, discloses a suspension meansassociated with three bowl in descending order and size along thesuspension means. The present invention can be easily distinguished fromthe Souder design because the Souder design requires that the suspensionmeans be permanently affixed to each of the bowls via flanges andapertures attached to each bowl.

U.S. Pat. No. D243,145, issued to Zipser, discloses a combined waterreservoir and holder for potted flowers and plants. The device has atripod base with a triangular receiving body which may be suspended withchains.

Finally, although U.S. Pat. No. D274,394, issued to Elliot, discloses aseries of pots supported by bases with hooked legs capable of beingattached to a suspension means; nonetheless it does not have aninvertible base design.

The Elliot design, unlike the present invention, does not claim that theassembly con be converted into a standing position upon a surface orsuspended in the air atop a pole. Thus, no where seen in the prior artis a torch body with a separable, invertible base which may be seteither on a table top, mounted on a pole, or it may be suspended viaelongate suspension means to hang from a hook or pole.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention consists of a torch body that has a relativelysquat configuration in one of the preferred embodiments, and which iscapable of retaining a quantity of oil. Of course, other types andarrangements of decorative metal torch bodies can be configured for thepurpose of holding a quantity of oil. The base of the body is furtherprovided with an annular ring or groove which is adopted to be securedto a supporting structure having a corresponding annular opening. Thesupporting structure is further provided with at least two or more hooklike structures which are adapted to removably fit and retain a set ofsuspension means. The suspension means terminates in a structure capableof being held on a bracket or hook type member, such as a ring.

The torch body is preferably constructed from a durable and strongcorrosion resistant material; including, but not limited to, stainlesssteel, aluminum, copper, other metallic alloys or anodized metals whichare rust and corrosion resistant. In the instance of copper torches, thetorch may be hand hammered over a wooden form to provide additionaldecorative effect to the torch body.

The torch body may be further provided with a screw in type wick holderon the top portion of the torch such that when the torch is handled andstored, the wick holder may not become easily dislodged or misplaced.Further, the wick may be removed or pushed into the base and a rubber orpliable gasket, seal or clasp may be inserted into, or over, the wickaperture so that the torch may be stored such that any oil left withinthe torch will not leak. The gasket, seal or clasp is especiallyimportant when the torch is being used during camping and/or hiking toprevent the oil from leaking from the torch body.

In another preferred embodiment, a corresponding tapped aperture isprovided in the bottom portion of the torch body. The topped aperture iscapable of securely threading onto a ground securement means such as apole. The pole can then be either pushed directly into soft ground, or asecond, shorter piece of pipe with a diameter smaller than the firstpole can be hammered into hard ground and the first pole can be safelyslid thereupon, thus allowing the torch body to be suspended in the airatop the pole at any chosen distance from the ground.

The foregoing, and other features and advantages of the presentinvention can be readily derived from the following detailed descriptionof the drawings taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawingspresent herein, and should be considered as within the overall scope ofthe invention.

OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION

It is a primary object of the present invention to provide a torch bodyhaving a separate base with a plurality of legs terminating in hooksthat has a dual purpose such that the torch body can be either hangedfrom a suspension means removably attached to the hooks or, by invertingthe torch base, it can be stood atop a surface resting on the hooks ofthe legs as though they were feet.

It is another primary object of the present invention to provide aseparate wick holder that screws into the top of the torch body suchthat the torch body can be jostled, moved, or handled without fear thatthe wick holder can become dislodged or damaged in any way.

Yet another primary object of the present invention is to provide atorch body with an invertible base and a separate wick holder wherein agasket, seal, plug or clasp can be inserted into the wick aperture inthe top of the torch body. By inserting the gasket, seal, plug or claspit is highly unlikely that the oil contained in the torch body will leakduring storage.

Still another primary objective of the present invention is to provide atopped aperture in the bottom of the torch body which allows the torchbody to be threaded onto a ground securement means, which may consist ofa pole, for example.

Another primary object of the present invention is to provide for a dualmethod of suspending the torch body in the air atop a ground securementmeans. The ground securement means can either consist solely of a pole,which can, in and of itself, be simply pushed into soft or resilientground, or the pole can be slipped over a second smaller diameter polewhich has been driven into the ground. Such ground securement means maybe commonly purchased at any hardware store, for any length and width ofpole.

These and other objects and advantages of the present invention can bereadily derived from the following detailed description of the drawingstaken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings present herein andshould be considered as within the overall scope of the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Exemplary embodiments of the present invention are described withreference to the following drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a side elevation view of the present invention in table topform;

FIG. 2 is a top elevation view of the present invention in table topform;

FIG. 3 is a side elevation cross section view of the present inventionshowing the wick holder with the wick removed and a rubber plastic capplaced over the wick holder for storage or transportation.

FIG. 4 is a bottom elevation view of the present invention in table topform;

FIG. 5 is a cut away side elevation view of the present invention inpole top configuration as it is about to be threadingly secured to thetop portion of a threaded mounting pole.

FIG. 7 is a lower side elevation view of the present invention showingthe torch mounting body pole as it is to be mounted atop a second groundmounting pole.

FIG. 8 is a cut away side elevation view of te present invention showthe uppermost portion of the torch body; the wick holder as it about tobe threadingly received into the wick holder threaded bore; and, arubber stopper as it is about to be slidingly received into the wickholder.

FIG. 9 is a cut away side elevation of the present invention showing thelower most portion of the torch body as it about to be threadinglyreceived into a tapped bore of a mounting pole.

FIG. 10 is a cut away cross section of the present invention showing adifferent configuration for the base support means for the torch body.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS

FIG. 1 illustrates one preferred embodiment of the present inventionshowing convertible torch body assembly 10. FIG. 1 is a side view of thepresent invention showing wick 11 which is removably secured andretained by wick holder 12 that is in turn screwed into the top portionof torch body 14. The bottom portion of the torch body 14 rests upon thetorch base 15 which has three legs 16. The torch body 14 may be made ofany durable, non-corrosive material including, but not limited to:steel, stainless steel, copper, coated or anodized materials, aluminumand the like. The torch body 14 also has a protrusion or groove locatedin the bottom portion thereof which is adapted to be received by torchbase 15.

FIG. 2 illustrates the same embodiment of the present invention,convertible torch body assembly 10. FIG. 2 is a top view of the presentinvention showing the wick 10, removably secured and retained by wickholder 12 which is screwed into the torch body 14, which in turn restssecurely upon the torch base 15 that is provided with three legs 16.

FIG. 3 is a cut away elevational cross section of the very top of thepresent invention convertible torch body assembly 10 with the wickhaving been removed from the top of the wick holder 12, and a rubber orplastic gasket 25 which has been used as a liquid tight cover for thewick holder 12, so that the present invention may be stored ortransported with oil in its body without leakage of any of its contents.

FIG. 4 illustrates a bottom elevation plan view of convertible torchbody assembly 10 which has a tapped aperture 17 at the bottom of thetorch body 14. This tapped aperture 17 allows the torch body 14 to bethreaded onto one end of a pole 22 so it may be mounted thereupon. Ifdesired, where the ground is hard, the bottom end of the pole may beslipped over a second, shorter mounting pole having a slightly smallerdiameter than the torch body mounting pole, and when the ground is hard,the mounting pole may be driven into the hard ground with a hammer.

FIG. 5 shows yet another preferred embodiment of the present invention,torch body hanging assembly 40 in which the torch body 14 has beenposition in an exemplary hanging formation with three slender elongatesuspension means 18 secured to the terminal hooks 21 of the legs 16 ofthe base 15, wherein the base 15 has been inverted from the positionshown in FIGS. 1, 2 and 4. The suspension means 18 can be comprised of,but is not limited to: chain, leather, string, twine, and wire. Thesuspension means 18 terminates in a hanging ring 20, which allows thepresent invention to be suspended from a bracket or hook. The suspensionmeans 18 can terminate in any structure capable of attaching to abracket or hook. The base 15 can have two or more legs 16 terminating ina corresponding number of hooks 21. As an example of slender elongatesuspension means 18, shown are rope, leather or wire element 34. Alsoshown is an elongate suspension means composed of chain 30, wherein thechain may be either metal or plastic. As a third configuration ofsuspension means, a macrame twine or hemp piece 32 is shown in thisFigure.

FIG. 6 is a preferred embodiment of the present invention showingconvertible torch body 50 which is cylindrical in shape, rather thansquat in configuration, illustrating how the present invention may bereadily adopted to a wide variety of different configurations. Torchbody 56 retains wick holder 52, which in turn retains wick 54.

In this particular embodiment, since torch body 56 is rectangular, anannular L shaped groove 58 is provided to all the torch body 56 to besecurely slidingly received into a base, as shown by base 16 in FIG. 1.Torch body mounting pole 62 has been provided with threads 60 at itsupper most portion as a removable fasting means for torch body 56. Torchbody mounting pole is shown as being implanted firmly and directly intoground 24.

FIG. 7 shows a cut away elevation view of the lower most portion oftorch mounting pole 62 wherein it is about to be mounted in a slightlydifferent fashion over smaller diameter second ground mounting pole 64which has been previously driven into ground 24.

It is anticipated that the mounting poles 62 and 64 are preferably madefrom a metal such as galvanized pipe or conduit or copper water pipe,all of which are commonly and inexpensively readily available in themarketplace.

FIG. 8 shows the upper most portion of torch body 50 which has beenprovided with a topped aperture 53 which is adapted to threadinglyreceive the threaded lower portion 51 of wick holder 52. A rubberstopper or cork 65 is further provided to allow the torch body assemblyto be stored without concern as to spillage or leaking of residual torchoil.

FIG. 9 shows a cut away view of torch body 50 which has been provided atits lower most portion with exteriorly threaded flange 74 which isadapted to be threadingly received into a corresponding tapped bore 70,which is located at the uppor most portion of torch mounting pole 72.

FIG. 10 shows a side elevational cross section of a preferred embodimentof a torch base and body, yet it is a truncated cone in configurationwhich has been provided with a plurality of small apertures 108 withcorresponding mounting hooks which may be secured there through toslender elongate suspension means as shown in FIG. 5. An annular groove112 has been provided within the interior of base 108 to providestability when the base 108 is inverted and annular ring or flange 106is removably and slidingly inserted therein. The lower most portion oftorch body 100 is provided with a threaded bore for convenient mountingto a torch body pole.

Although in the foregoing detailed description the present invention hasbeen described by reference to various specific embodiments, it is to beunderstood that modifications and alterations in the structure andarrangement of those embodiments other than those specifically set forthherein may be achieved by those skilled in the art and that suchmodifications and alterations are to be considered as within the overallscope of this invention. The claims should not be read as limited to thedescribed order of elements unless stated to that effect. Allembodiments that come within the scope and spirit of the followingclaims and equivalents thereto are claimed as the invention.

1. A torch assembly means comprising, in combination; a torch bodyhaving a top and a bottom portion and a groove is provided in the bottomportion wherein the groove may be removably received by a convertiblebase member that has a plurality of legs terminating in hook members,and a wick holder removably secured to and retained in the top portionof said torch body.
 2. A torch assembly means as claimed in claim 1,wherein said torch body is made from a material selected from one ormore of the following: stainless steel, copper, coated steel, anodizedsteel, aluminum, and coated copper.
 3. A torch assembly means as claimedin claim 1, further comprising a topped aperture in the bottom portionof said torch body.
 4. A tapped aperture as claimed in claim 3, whereinsaid aperture is modified to securely fasten to a ground securementmeans.
 5. A ground securement means as claimed in claim 4, wherein saidsecurement means comprises a pole with one end threaded to receive saidtapped aperture.
 6. A torch assembly means as claimed in claim 1,further being provided with a suspension means.
 7. A suspension means asclaimed in claim 6, wherein the suspension means is made from one ormore of the following materials: chain, cable, rope, leather, twine,string, and wire.
 8. A torch assembly means as claimed in claim 1,wherein a seal is further provided for insertion over the wick holderwhen the torch assembly is in storage or during the transportationthereof.
 9. A torch assembly means as claimed in claim 1, wherein a sealis further provided for insertion into the wick holder when the torchassembly is in storage or during transportation thereof.
 10. A torchassembly means comprising, in combination; a torch body having a top anda bottom portion and a outwardly extending flange is provided in thebottom portion wherein the groove may be removably received by aconvertible base member that has a plurality of legs terminating in hookmembers, and a wick holder removably secured to and retained in the topportion of said torch body.
 11. A torch assembly means as claimed inclaim 10, wherein the wick holder has a lower end which has beenprovided with a plurality of threads and the torch body has beenprovided with an upper opening that has a threaded bore which is adoptedto threadingly receive the threaded lower end of the wick holder.
 12. Atorch assembly means as claimed in claim 10, wherein said torch body ismade from a material selected from one or more of the following:stainless steel, copper, coated steel, anodized steel, aluminum, andcoated copper.
 13. A torch assembly means as claimed in claim 10,further comprising a topped aperture in the bottom portion of said torchbody.
 14. A tapped aperture as claimed in claim 13, wherein saidaperture is modified to securely fasten to a ground securement means.15. A ground securement means as claimed in claim 14, wherein saidsecurement means comprises a pole with one end threaded to receive saidtapped aperture.
 16. A torch assembly means as claimed in claim 15,further being provided with a suspension means.
 17. A suspension meansas claimed in claim 16, wherein the suspension means is made from one ormore of the following materials: chain, cable, rope, leather, twine,string, and wire.
 18. A torch assembly means as claimed in claim 17,wherein a seal is further provided for insertion over the wick holderwhen the torch assembly is in storage or during the transportationthereof.
 19. A torch assembly means as claimed in claim 18, wherein aseal is further provided for insertion into the wick holder when thetorch assembly is in storage or during transportation thereof.
 20. Atorch assembly means comprising, in combination; a torch body having atop and a bottom portion and a outwardly extending flange is provided inthe bottom portion wherein the groove may be removably received by aconvertible base member that has an annular flange substantially conicalin configuration, a plurality of apertures in the annular flange, and awick holder removably secured to and retained in the top portion of saidtorch body.
 21. A torch assembly means as claimed in claim 10, whereinthe wick holder has a lower end which has been provided with a pluralityof threads and the torch body has been provided with an upper openingthat has a threaded bore which is adapted to threadingly receive thethreaded lower end of the wick holder.
 22. A torch assembly means asclaimed in claim 20, wherein said torch body is made from a materialselected from one or more of the following: stainless steel, copper,coated steel, anodized steel, aluminum, and coated copper.
 23. A torchassembly means as claimed in claim 10, further comprising a tappedaperture in the bottom portion of said torch body.
 24. A tapped apertureas claimed in claim 13, wherein said aperture is modified to securelyfasten to a ground securement means.
 25. A ground securement means asclaimed in claim 14, wherein said securement means comprises a pole withone end threaded to receive said topped aperture.
 26. A torch assemblymeans as claimed in claim 15, further being provided with a suspensionmeans.
 27. A suspension means as claimed in claim 16, wherein thesuspension means is made from one or more of the following materials:chain, cable, rope, leather, twine, string, and wire.
 28. A torchassembly means as claimed in claim 17, wherein a seal is furtherprovided for insertion over the wick holder when the torch assembly isin storage or during the transportation thereof.
 29. A torch assemblymeans as claimed in claim 18, wherein a seal is further provided forinsertion into the wick holder when the torch assembly is in storage orduring transportation thereof.